


Drowning

by Rhanon_Brodie (Glass_Jacket)



Series: A Word, or a Blow (or what the internet wants me to do: a collection of prompt ideas and drabble responses) [2]
Category: Arctic Monkeys, British Singers RPF, Indie Music RPF
Genre: M/M, Stolen Kisses, Tumblr Prompt, angsty, stolen breath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-03 22:47:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6630088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glass_Jacket/pseuds/Rhanon_Brodie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex takes a leap of faith that leaves him short of breath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drowning

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my tumblr, but it's been such a long time and I really like having all my work together. This will probably be the first of a series of reposts of responses to memes / prompts. For this one, the prompt was 'drowning' and the pairing was 'Jamie/Alex'

The sun overhead is blazing hot for May, but there’s a chill in the air that makes Alex shiver where he stands, barefoot and practically naked on the cracked cement ledge that overhangs Ing’s Quarry. Behind him, his mates Jamie, and Nick, and Matt, shove and prattle on, and their raucous laughter echoes off of the high granite walls that tower around the milky turquoise pool. It’s quite deep, so there’s no fear of drowning. But Alex is adamant he saw ice still on the edges as they raced their bikes up the dirt track, and now he’s not so sure he wants to take the first jump.

Nick stumbles when Matt pushes him, and he howls as he knocks Alex a bit further to the edge of the slab. “After you, Al,” Nick snickers, wagging his eyebrows and grinning madly. “C’mon, what’s the worst that could happen? A lit’l bit o’shrinkage?” Matt laughs, and when Alex swings his gaze to Jamie in hopes that the eldest will take pity on him, he sees that the blond’s face is ruddy, his smile is wide, but his blue eyes are like the water - sharp, and deep, and perhaps a little cold. Alex isn’t sure he wants to touch bottom there, either. Biting his lip, he looks back onto the ledge.

“ _Alex! Alex! Alex!_ ” Matt and Nick chant, and Jamie takes up the tune, until Alex is shivering in anticipation, glancing from the quarry to his mates, back to the quarry, and he feels his stomach turn sour and begin to fold in on itself.

The trees that edge their platform shift in the wind, and the sunlight cuts into Jamie’s eyes, who is looking at Al with contemplation. “Want me to go wiv?”

Alex wants to groan in relief - Cookie has never let him down before. Still, the thought of freefalling for sixteen feet with Jamie at his side is terrifying, and he backs away from the ledge with a small shrug. “Nah,” Alex gulps, closing his eyes and willing his hands to steady themselves. “I got this.”

Jamie snorts softly, and steps away from Matt and Nick, who have lit cigarettes to bide the time until Alex jumps. He drew the short straw, after all, and it’s tradition - this day, every May, one by one they take the leap and are baptized in waters from that very first summer they spent together as a foursome. That was ten years ago; they’re sixteen now, and Alex wants to think the ritual is silly, but he can’t bring himself to say anything of the sort. Ten years ago, they were but wee lads, with nowt on their minds but baseball and bubblegum. At sixteen, it’s cars and cigarettes and stolen beers and girls - at least, it’s supposed to be girls. Alex frowns at the thought.

It hasn’t been girls for a while, now.

In fact, it hasn’t been anyone but Jamie.

He’s hid it well, too, or so he thinks, and he’s sure to not take too long staring at Jamie’s profile, and he never lets his leg press against Jamie’s longer than necessary when he’s seating himself on the couch with the other two. Somehow, Jamie and Alex always get sandwiched together, and Jamie is always eager to make room, but Alex has been shying away as of late. Every touch from the older boy makes his stomach quiver, and he’s had to will away more than a few surprise hard ons, cheeks blazing, saying that he’s fine, that it’s the heat of the room, the hops in the beer, the cut of the vodka. It’s not Jamie making him feel this way.

But it is.

He looks to the water once more, and his toes grip the edge of the platform. He wants to take the plunge, to close his eyes and just jump, and then - 

It happens so fast. One moment he’s teetering on the brink of his nerves, willing himself to do something incredibly stupid, and then he hears the rush of bare feet over concrete, the _slap-slap-slap_ of soles connecting with the ground. There’s a shout - a crow of utter jubilation, and then a hand closes over his elbow and he’s propelled off of the rock - _yanked_ into space, careening to the water at maximum velocity, the wind screeching madly in his ears, while Jamie’s triumphant scream echoes all around him.

Then, blackness, and roaring, and the water is like blades through his skin, it is so cold. There’s a pressure in his chest, and then hands on his arms, and he’s spinning in that cold, murky place, blinking his eyes open so that he can just make out Jamie in the sunlight that slices the surface above. Bubbles trail from Jamie’s nose, and Alex watches as Jamie smiles broadly, and gives him a thumbs up.

Alex sees his chance, and takes it, and curls his hands behind Jamie’s neck and puts his lips against those of the older boy. Time is sluggish down here in the cold, and for a moment Alex thinks that Jamie will kiss him back.

Jamie growls against Alex’s mouth and shoves him away. His eyes are narrowed, and he shakes his head, bubbles stills streaming from his nose. Alex goes to reach for him, their bodies already rising to the surface, but before Alex can get a hand on Jamie, Jamie kicks, and struggles, and lands a heel in Alex’s chest, using the smaller lad to push himself to the surface. Alex watches him go, watches his silhouette become fractured as he meets the surface, and for a spell, Alex merely hangs in the cold, unmoving, staring up at the bright disc of the sun, Jamie’s arms treading water carefully. 

Muffled words come next, and more splashing, and Alex feels himself dragged once more, this time upwards. He doesn’t want to go just yet - not to the surface, at least. He could stay here, in the dark, just floating, lungs filling, sound dulling, numbness setting into his limbs. But those hands under his arms won’t let him be, and he struggles as he’s pulled upwards, out of the frigid caress of water, into the blazing sun, with ringing ears and burning lungs. Sand scratches his back, and he’s rolled to his side before a great _thump_ is administered on his back. He spasms and coughs, and then someone hits him again, _thump!_ He fears it’s the sound of his heart beating madly, and that everyone can hear and will know that he took a leap of faith, blind as it were, and overshot the landing.

“Alex!” 

Matt is calling his name, and he hears Nick harassing Jamie, “What happened? What the fook happened? Oh Jesus, Jamie, this is not good, d’ya hear?”

“Alex!” Matt’s shout is shrill in Alex’s sensitive ears and he opens his eyes expecting to see the dark indigo of Matt’s irises, but he sees the bright circle of the sun once more, and the broad set of shoulders he’d clung to moments before. Water drips down and splatters on his face.

“Give em’ room,” Matt mutters, shoving Jamie back, curling a protective hand up Alex’s spine. “Are you all right?”

Alex coughs again, sputtering, and spits another lungful of water out onto the shore. His fingers curl into the dark sand, and he watches three sets of toes do the same. His mates wait, and hold their breath, until Jamie steps forward and crouches down so that he can look into Alex’s eyes.

“What the fook were ya doin’ down there?” he mutters carefully.

Alex rolls to his back with another cough, and sighs, closing his eyes to the hot May sun overhead. Smiling ruefully, he rasps, “Drownin’.”


End file.
